MVRDA officials says registration, fines won't start yet

LAS CRUCES >> Employees at Allied Security planned to spend a lot of time Friday on the phone.

"I expect ... to be flooded with calls," said Tanya Lang, who works in the Las Cruces-based alarm company.

Her forecast was based on experience. Employees at alarm companies all over the city received Thursday numerous customer inquiries about registering their security systems under the city's overhauled alarm ordinance. Allied Security, Lang estimated, had about 40 such calls.

"We were inundated," she said.

The prevalent concern among customers? They didn't know how to register and were worried they soon could be fined.

The short answers from Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority director Hugo Costa: You can't register just yet, and, once you can, won't be subject to possible fines until the end of August, at the earliest.

City Council passed an ordinance in January aimed at reducing false alarms, a problem officials described as a serious drain on public safety resources.

Part of the ordinance took effect then, but the section that hits Las Crucens' wallets -- registration fees and possible fines -- couldn't start, by law, until Thursday. That's when customers called their local alarm companies.

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But just because officials can legally start fining alarm users for not complying with the new ordinance, that doesn't mean they will. A few final details remain incomplete.

Costa said the contract between the city and MVRDA, which effectively allows the dispatch center to manage and enforce the ordinance, was just finalized. He said it will be signed by the MVRDA board at its Aug. 14 meeting.

Once the contact is signed, Costa said, MVRDA can process registrations. Each year every alarm user will need to pay the fee, which is $25 for homes and $50 for businesses. Fire officials require that all businesses within the city have a fire alarm.

If alarm users fail to register and public safety personnel respond to a false fire or burglar alarm, they can be fined $100.

Eagle Security office manager Danielle Kleist said customers can fill out MVRDA forms at her business, they just won't be processed by MVRDA until later in the month. She said Eagle Security plans to have the forms on its website Monday.

Costa said he expects MVRDA to be at "full speed" on the administrative side of the ordinance by mid September. Still, he said, MVRDA should be ready to start issuing fines, if necessary, by the end of August.

Once registered, alarm users who have more than two false alarms per year could face $100 fines. There are some exceptions and an appeal process. The maximum fine amount is $300.

Costa said every alarm user will start with a "clean slate."

He reiterated in an email to the Sun-News that the goal was not to fine alarm users; it's to cut false alarms.

Wrote Costa: "Hopefully the public will have taken the time these past months to properly learn how to use their alarm systems and ... correct any issues that have been occurring that cause the false alarms."